Using 3D printing technology with experiential learning strategies to improve preengineering students' comprehension of abstract scientific concepts and hands‐on ability.

This study combined 3D printing technology with experiential learning strategies (ELS) to design a hands‐on curriculum for preengineering students. The participants learned interdisciplinary knowledge and abstract scientific concepts through the curriculum. The study implemented a quasi‐experimental design to examine whether the students who learned using the 3D printing technology with ELS demonstrated better learning performances regarding the comprehension of abstract scientific concepts and hands‐on ability. This study selected 184 10th‐grade students from five classes, which were divided into three groups. The experimental process was conducted over a period of 11 weeks (for a total duration of 960 min). It was found that all of the preengineering students improved their comprehension of abstract scientific concepts. The students who learned using the 3D printing technology understood abstract scientific concepts better than those who learned using the traditional hands‐on tools, and the students who learned using the 3D printing technology with ELS demonstrated better hands‐on ability than the other two groups. Using 3D printing technology with ELS resulted in significant positive effects on the participants' handmade processes, in which the students reinforced the connection between knowledge and handmade products, resulting in better comprehension of abstract scientific concepts and hands‐on ability. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Applying 3D printing technology to a hands‐on curriculum offers many benefits, such as smoother and easier progress, and a shortened product development cycle and reduced development costs.Preengineering students must understand the impacts of engineering developments and become literate about the technological world around them, but disciplines that are too abstract for students at the high school level can easily lead to myths, and it can affect students' learning outcomes. What this paper adds: Combining 3D printing technology with ELS to design a learning activity.Through the process of this course design, students gained scientific knowledge about energy and produced a hands‐on windmill generator that converted wind energy into electricity. Implications for practice and/or policy: This study used 3D printing technology with ELS to help senior high school students improve their comprehension of abstract scientific concepts and hands‐on ability.By bridging the gap between interdisciplinary knowledge and a hands‐on curriculum, this study provided evidence of engaging in experiences when using 3D printing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]